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Odd Thoughts: Super quick L.A. thoughts....

Only time for some quick bullet points tonight guys, sorry.

• Frank is trying to kill me by playing that God awful backup unit together against other teams who still have some starters in the game. He has got to start mixing them as the unit is just not good together.
• Our backup wings are killing us right now. Young nor Green did anything of merit in this game and both made bonehead plays costing us ground.
• Lance didn’t really help a lot tonight either however he had a pair of big rebounds in the second half.
• George Hill is the second most clutch player on our team (Danny is first) and what I love about him is he does not shy away from the big moment at all.
• To quote Seth here, David West is a B A M F! Big game from him including directing the very last play in which Hill scored. I thought I might have to gouge out my eyes with all of the bad shooting that occurred while he was on the bench. Thank God he played and hit shots.
• Sadly Roy was very affective in limited (foul ridden min.) thanks to Dwight “flopper” Howard.
• I used to like Howard now I almost can’t stand to see him play.
• I can only hope D’Antoni does for L.A. what he did for N.Y. and so far from what I’ve seen he’s well on his way. Some day he & O’Brien will be battling for the Euro championships somewhere in a “king of the Baltic” game or something.
• Ian Mahinmi actually looked a lot like the Ian from pre-season and Lord knows tonight we needed it and unlike our starting small forward he actually hit the majority of his free throws.
• Paul George did a very good job on the boards and did as well as you can do vs. Bryant.
• The Black Mamba is the Black Mamba you’re not going to do anything about that. Dude just has ice water in his veins.
• Danny’s knee looked great while he was doing the post game chicken dance. Also I know I shouldn’t get my hopes up but he’s now traveling with the team and doing some practice and shooting, God please let him return sooner rather than later.
• Did I mention that Green & Young were atrocious?
• We only shot 63% from the free throw line and missed several in the 4th, fortunately not as many as the Lakers missed, but we have got to work on that.
• Tyler was just to small tonight, he had no chance out there at all. He even had one of his rock solid rebounds tipped away by Bryant.
• I know that it is conventional wisdom that Joey Crawford is a great ref. I’m sorry I just disagree. That blocking foul that we all love so much was actually the wrong call and his gross over exaggeration of the call just goes further to prove that he is all about “look at me” when he refs. a game. Sure he is not afraid to call fouls on stars or hit the home team but often times he’s just as wrong as the rest of them are and frankly the fact that everybody in the free world knows him tells me he doesn’t do his job very well.

Off for a couple of days with some real practice time. Let’s try and get one of these two weekend games (or better yet get both) and then take our chance with the Bulls.

Basketball isn't played with computers, spreadsheets, and simulations. ChicagoJ 4/21/13

Re: Odd Thoughts: Super quick L.A. thoughts....

• I know that it is conventional wisdom that Joey Crawford is a great ref. I’m sorry I just disagree. That blocking foul that we all love so much was actually the wrong call and his gross over exaggeration of the call just goes further to prove that he is all about “look at me” when he refs. a game. Sure he is not afraid to call fouls on stars or hit the home team but often times he’s just as wrong as the rest of them are and frankly the fact that everybody in the free world knows him tells me he doesn’t do his job very well.

• I know that it is conventional wisdom that Joey Crawford is a great ref. I’m sorry I just disagree. That blocking foul that we all love so much was actually the wrong call and his gross over exaggeration of the call just goes further to prove that he is all about “look at me” when he refs. a game. Sure he is not afraid to call fouls on stars or hit the home team but often times he’s just as wrong as the rest of them are and frankly the fact that everybody in the free world knows him tells me he doesn’t do his job very well.

Every ref gets calls wrong. At least he calls it without a tremendous level of bias, which is all you can ask for. Have you ever spoken to a ref? They know they get a ton of calls wrong, it's an impossible job.

Re: Odd Thoughts: Super quick L.A. thoughts....

I completely disagree with this. I don't think I have walked away from a Crawford reffed game that I was not completely disgusted by the reffing, especially when that game involves big names on the other team.

Re: Odd Thoughts: Super quick L.A. thoughts....

I completely disagree with this. I don't think I have walked away from a Crawford reffed game that I was not completely disgusted by the reffing, especially when that game involves big names on the other team.

Re: Odd Thoughts: Super quick L.A. thoughts....

Doesn't matter that Ian played pretty well. Plenty will keep building the narrative that he sucks.

I have to point out that although Mahinmi played well.....there were a few plays on the offensive end where he tried to do more than he was capable of doing....like driving to the hoop then losing the ball on the dribble.

I agree that Mahinmi putting up 8 to 10 points is great....but I don't get the sense that his offensive game should consist of anything more than hitting a wide open Mid-range jumpshot, scoring on some put backs ( a la Udonis Haslem ) and getting to the FT line.

Can someone who has paid attention to his game in Dallas tell me if he has it in him to display more of an offensive game than what I have mentioned above?

I'm not disagreeing with you that he won't be an impact Player in the future....I'm just trying to determine if he will really have that much more of an impact on the offensive end than Foster did when he was on the Team.

Re: Odd Thoughts: Super quick L.A. thoughts....

I have to point out that although Mahinmi played well.....there were a few plays on the offensive end where he tried to do more than he was capable of doing....like driving to the hoop then losing the ball on the dribble.

I agree that Mahinmi putting up 8 to 10 points is great....but I don't get the sense that his offensive game should consist of anything more than hitting a wide open Mid-range jumpshot, scoring on some put backs ( a la Udonis Haslem ) and getting to the FT line.

Can someone who has paid attention to his game in Dallas tell me if he has it in him to display more of an offensive game than what I have mentioned above?

I'm not disagreeing with you that he won't be an impact Player in the future....I'm just trying to determine if he will really have that much more of an impact on the offensive end than Foster did when he was on the Team.

No one said he'll ever be an "impact player." Certainly not me. Just that he's far from a walking $4 million mistake like so many people are quick to accuse him of.

Re: Odd Thoughts: Super quick L.A. thoughts....

I have to point out that although Mahinmi played well.....there were a few plays on the offensive end where he tried to do more than he was capable of doing....like driving to the hoop then losing the ball on the dribble.

I agree that Mahinmi putting up 8 to 10 points is great....but I don't get the sense that his offensive game should consist of anything more than hitting a wide open Mid-range jumpshot, scoring on some put backs ( a la Udonis Haslem ) and getting to the FT line.

Can someone who has paid attention to his game in Dallas tell me if he has it in him to display more of an offensive game than what I have mentioned above?

I'm not disagreeing with you that he won't be an impact Player in the future....I'm just trying to determine if he will really have that much more of an impact on the offensive end than Foster did when he was on the Team.

With Foster, you're looking at a king of 2nd chance and hustle points. Basically, Foster didn't try to put the ball in the basket unless it was a shot your grandmother would consider shooting. He relied on offensive rebounds and other players getting him the ball for easy drives.

The fact that Mahinmi can catch the ball above the free throw line and has the option of either shooting or driving means he is more polished offensively than Foster ever was. Mahinmi isn't as good off the offensive glass and his hands aren't as reliable. However, Mahinmi also loves to catch those dumpoffs leading to a quick dunk. So their point production may be similar in the end.

Re: Odd Thoughts: Super quick L.A. thoughts....

Without looking it up online, I would guess the Pacers have a pretty good recent record against the Lakers at Staples Center. It seems we win there almost every time we play them, very odd.

I think we lost every time we played there from 99-00 (the year it opened) to 09-10. Our win two years ago was the first time we ever beat them at Staples, IIRC. Now we're on a nice three game streak there.

Re: Odd Thoughts: Super quick L.A. thoughts....

• I know that it is conventional wisdom that Joey Crawford is a great ref. I’m sorry I just disagree. That blocking foul that we all love so much was actually the wrong call and his gross over exaggeration of the call just goes further to prove that he is all about “look at me” when he refs. a game. Sure he is not afraid to call fouls on stars or hit the home team but often times he’s just as wrong as the rest of them are and frankly the fact that everybody in the free world knows him tells me he doesn’t do his job very well.

As I have watched that play over and over again. I think the perfect call would have been no call at all. No block, no charge. Contact was minimal and after the ball was shot. But I suppose that is unrealistic to expect the refs to use a little common sense vs by the letter of the law.

Beyond that a charge was probably the better call in todays NBA. But hey, I don't judge a ref by 1 call. If Joey officiated every Pacers game from now until he retires, I would be happy. I would put him in the top ten all-time refs in my 30 years watching the NBA. If it weren't for his temper and over abundnace on calling techs, he'd be in my top 3 or 4. The fact that people know who he is or doesn't know who he is, tells me nothing.

To the pacers, they have maybe not turned the corner, but they are playing much better overall than a couple of weeks ago. But without Danny this is probably just a slightly better than a .500 team

Re: Odd Thoughts: Super quick L.A. thoughts....

• I know that it is conventional wisdom that Joey Crawford is a great ref. I’m sorry I just disagree. That blocking foul that we all love so much was actually the wrong call and his gross over exaggeration of the call just goes further to prove that he is all about “look at me” when he refs. a game. Sure he is not afraid to call fouls on stars or hit the home team but often times he’s just as wrong as the rest of them are and frankly the fact that everybody in the free world knows him tells me he doesn’t do his job very well.

I would agree with ya. I think he's a mostly fair ref in that he doesn't seem to favor one team or the other with the lousy calls. But he lets his big bald ego get in the way of the game far too often. A good official would have called the tech on Kobe 3 seconds later after the 4 on 1 break was over. A good official does not need to prance halfway down the floor to call a block. Both of those calls last night are huge red flags that Crawford lacks adequate control over his ego/emotions to be in the "good official" category.

Re: Odd Thoughts: Super quick L.A. thoughts....

• Lance didn’t really help a lot tonight either however he had a pair of big rebounds in the second half.

• Ian Mahinmi actually looked a lot like the Ian from pre-season and Lord knows tonight we needed it and unlike our starting small forward he actually hit the majority of his free throws.

• I know that it is conventional wisdom that Joey Crawford is a great ref. I’m sorry I just disagree. That blocking foul that we all love so much was actually the wrong call and his gross over exaggeration of the call just goes further to prove that he is all about “look at me” when he refs. a game. Sure he is not afraid to call fouls on stars or hit the home team but often times he’s just as wrong as the rest of them are and frankly the fact that everybody in the free world knows him tells me he doesn’t do his job very well.

1- Lance made 2 great cuts leading to easy lay-ins. In a game that featured 79 points, getting "easy" buckets is something to commend.

2- Ian was great last night. Starter out with foul trouble, comes in and stays clean himself. Think about it: If Ian fouls everything that moves, we end up David at the 5 guarding Dwight. *shudder*

3- I don't think that's conventional wisdom. In fact, I think he's rather despised by fans/teams for his absurd antics and awful calls. The only mildly positive thing he's known for is not being afraid to T up stars/coaches.

Re: Odd Thoughts: Super quick L.A. thoughts....

I have to point out that although Mahinmi played well.....there were a few plays on the offensive end where he tried to do more than he was capable of doing....like driving to the hoop then losing the ball on the dribble.

I agree that Mahinmi putting up 8 to 10 points is great....but I don't get the sense that his offensive game should consist of anything more than hitting a wide open Mid-range jumpshot, scoring on some put backs ( a la Udonis Haslem ) and getting to the FT line.

Any time Ian drove, it was either:

a) the offense was going stagnant. Seemed as though Frank was wanting them to make quicker decisions.
b) Howard gave him a lane
c) Late in the SC

If you re-watch parts of the game, notice how Ian forced Dwight to work just as hard, if not harder, once Roy went out. Ian was getting and keeping solid position all night long, and really frustrating Dwight.

I think we lost every time we played there from 99-00 (the year it opened) to 09-10. Our win two years ago was the first time we ever beat them at Staples, IIRC. Now we're on a nice three game streak there.

Re: Odd Thoughts: Super quick L.A. thoughts....

No one said he'll ever be an "impact player." Certainly not me. Just that he's far from a walking $4 million mistake like so many people are quick to accuse him of.

One good game ouf of 15 still does not make him be worth 4mil a year for the next four years, the same with Green and his one good game long time ago, lets hope they get better but so far that's wasted money.

And nope I'm not trying to be negative I'm just telling it like it is without the blinders.